Innocence
by NajikaSun
Summary: This is a sad story about Graham Riddle and Blaine Levine - the couple who never got to express their true feelings.  Takes place after the third Layton game.
1. Chapter 1

Graham didn't sleep well that night.

He spent most of the night switching his gaze from the ceiling to his cell phone, reading texts received late into the night. Even if they were from himself, they still made him feel slightly less lonely. Despite the fact that he knew that he had written them, he still smiled when he read the message, imagining who they would be from and what else that mystery person would send. Things like "You are a wonderful person," "You have an amazing personality," and "I love you," were often ones sent at this hour. He always deleted them quickly afterwards though.

This morning was just like the last couple nights. He was thinking too hard about everything going on. Today was his fifteenth birthday. He was in the ninth grade – a freshman in high school. But unfortunately, today was Friday, and he knew in the back of his mind that there was a garbage can with his name on it waiting for him after school. He swallowed the thought with his morning cereal and, after hugging his grandmother good-bye, left for school.

Graham lived with his grandmother, the only living relative in his family, since his father left when he was very young and he lost his mother to cancer when he was ten. He never really mourned his parents though, and he never knew why. He did love his mum, but he thought he should be happy for her instead of crying over her. Graham never really cried in his childhood – his grandmother didn't allow it unless there was a sincere reason, and even then, he found it easier to just smile through it. He just shoved those emotions away for later, when he knew he could let them go.

He wasn't looking forward to school today.

The school day passed rather slowly, that feeling of impending doom lasting from first period to seventh. His classes were rather dreary: lectures in math, lectures in English, lectures in history, lectures in science, and dodge-ball in PE – nothing very interesting. Although they were going over sex ed. in health class, it still did not interest him like it did the other students. He was simply waiting for class to be over so he could dash home and avoid the usual Friday routine.

He counted down the seconds on the clock until it was time to go, gathered his things five minutes before the bell rang, and was standing at the door, staring at the clock on the wall. A few minutes passed, and the bell finally rang, and by the time it was done ringing, he was halfway across campus, dashing in his homeward direction. He hoped he was fast enough today. He continued running for a few minutes straight, and he did not stop until he was off of campus. He was panting a bit, sweat beading upon his forehead, but he was smiling. He was simply glad that he got away from the group of people who gave the phrase "Freshman Friday" its meaning.

He decided to stop at the store on the way home and grab something to drink. Once he was finished with his blue Icee, he walked out the double doors of the store, only to see the group he tried so hard to avoid. One slicked-back guy at the front of the group stepped forward.

"Hey, Cracker! You got enough cash to go around?"

Graham didn't answer; he simply turned and walked away from the group.

"Yo, Cracker! I know you heard me, and I know you got cash!"

Graham was walking away with his head down.

"Get your ass back here and ANSWER ME, dammit!"

"Get away from me!"

Graham broke into a run, only to be followed by the rest of the group, who managed not only to catch up to him, but to pin him against the wall of the back of the building. Graham was afraid of them at this point.

"Why do you guys do this to me!" Graham shouted out to them as steadily as he could manage.

"Heh, why the hell shouldn't we? You're scrawny and weak, and we all know that for a fact." Graham was whacked against the back of the building before they continued, "And you just let any old person step all over you. Pathetic."

He threw Graham down onto the pavement and kicked him over.

"You don't even have a girlfriend; what kind of man are you anyway?"

Graham didn't respond. He had no intention of even getting up at this point. Suddenly, a different type of voice echoed in his ears.

"Pitiful."

From behind the three boys in the crowd, a girl walked out, but not just any girl - she was _that girl._ _That girl_ who had dated every boy in the school and then some. _That girl_ who always wore a scarf to hide the hickeys on her neck. _That girl_ who "accidentally" spilled the basket of condoms in Health in hopes that a handful would fall into her bag. _That girl_ who was known at the school for having the biggest cup size out of all the girls. _That girl_ who wouldn't be recognizable if she followed the school dress code.  
><em>That girl.<em>

In one swift kick of her red high heels, she flipped Graham back over onto his back again and sat herself upon his lower stomach, looking down at him with a rather intimidating look in her heavily made-up eyes. Her cherry-lips puckered together into a small smirk as she glared down at him. Graham looked back up at her with a rather defeated look on his face, which made her smirk simply grow. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and leaned forward to position herself on top of Graham, looking him in the eyes. One of the boys whistled at them. Graham was unfazed. He just wanted to go home. He turned his head away from her with a rather irritated look on his face.

"Do you even have a dick?"

Her voice stung in his ears. His cheeks turned slightly red in embarrassment as he turns his head even farther away from her, avoiding her icy stare. He gathered up what courage he had left and managed to speak one quiet sentence.

"Do you even know that there's more to life than sex?"

A loud slap rang out and ricocheted off of the building they were next to. Her hand felt very cold against Graham's cheek. The next few minutes went by as a bit of a blur for Graham - the three boys, as well as the girl, managed to remove all the contents of Graham's backpack (as well as take anything of any value and scatter the remaining few items), give him a few more bruises on his body, and - as Graham expected - shove him into a nearby trashcan.

Graham decided that he didn't need to go home at the moment. He just sat there with his head lowered, almost out of sight.

** o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"Grahaaaaaaaaam! Where are you!"

Luke was still dressed in his school uniform and was running down the road, looking for Graham. He had arranged to meet Graham a few hours after school to study for an upcoming exam, but Graham never showed. Although they were three years apart in school, they still had some of the same classes in which they studied together. Graham had always shown up to previous meetings, he was never late to school - if you gave him an assigned time and location, he was there. Luke was now searching the route Graham took to get home every day, becoming more and more worried with each minute that passed without any sign of Graham.

Luke continued calling for Graham for another twenty minutes before spotting a book that Graham always had with him on the ground. He immediately picked it up and held it in his arms, wondering how Graham could have possibly forgotten his favorite book. He eventually spied more of Graham's belongings, and followed a trail of them to the back of the building, as well as Graham himself, only his legs visible from inside of the trash can.

"Graham!"

Graham didn't respond to Luke's call at all. He didn't even move.  
>Luke ran over to Graham and helped get him out of the trashcan with a bit of effort, but after he was out, Graham still wasn't responsive at all to Luke. His eyes were somewhat glazed over and his breathing was very slow.<br>"GRAHAM!" Luke shouted as he placed both his hands on Graham's shoulders and shook him rather roughly, "Graham! Answer me, dammit!"

Graham only winced in response. Just from this, Luke knew almost exactly what had happened. Luke had heard about this happening to Graham before, but he never had been the first to find Graham after it happened. He looked Graham in the eye, and Graham looked weakly back at him.

"Man...why do you let them do this to you?"  
>No answer. Graham looked down slightly.<p>

Luke gave up on trying to talk to Graham and decided a different approach. Luke sighed and, after a bit of hesitation, wrapped his arms around Graham and pulled him into a somewhat awkward-feeling hug. It brought Luke back to his childhood a bit, but he swallowed his nostalgia and focused on the situation at hand.  
>Graham's eyes shot open. He inhaled sharply before attempting to speak.<p>

"Why...?" Graham's own arms wrapped themselves weakly around Luke, "...why do they do this? Why do they always do this to me...?"  
>"Because they know you won't fight back, Graham..."<br>"But-"  
>"They know that you'll just take it, and they know that you're scared of them."<br>"I-I-"  
>"Graham...I know that I'm right about that."<p>

There were a few moments of silence before Graham interrupted it.

"L-Luke...I don't feel well...not at all..."

Luke helped Graham over to the trashcan he was previously stuck in, and turned away as Graham threw up the bright blue drink he had earlier. Graham sunk back down to the ground after that, looking worse than ever. Luke walked back over to him and helped clean off the blue liquid from his face and shirt. He then pulled out an unopened water bottle from his bag and handed it to Graham, who promptly drank it. Another ten minutes passed by before Luke spoke again.

"Feelin' any better?"  
>"Luke...I..." there was a pause, "...I think I realized something..."<br>"What's that?"

Graham didn't answer right away. Instead, Graham did something that Luke never actually expected to see Graham do. Something inside of Graham seemed to shatter as he crumpled over forward, his head lowered in grief. He was hugging himself tightly and visibly shaking. Luke crawled forward a bit and reached a hand out towards him.

"Graham...hey, it'll be alright..."  
>Graham took in a shaky breath as he lifted his head up towards the sky.<p>

"_I HATE GIRLS SO MUUUUUCH!_"

"H-Hey, you don't really mean tha-"  
>Graham had started sobbing at this point. His hands were in little fists below his eyes, and he looked like he did as a child again through Luke's eyes. Luke smiled sadly at Graham and put an arm around him in an attempt to comfort him.<br>"It'll be okay, Graham. You'll turn back around and like girls when you're a bit older, I know you will. And they'll get nicer to you once you're in an upperclassman!"  
>"No they w-won't...!"<br>"I know they will, Graham, I mean, you're not a jerk, and girls like that! You're tall, you're not fat, you have, like, every turn-on that girls like! C'mon, you'll be in a relationship before you know it and you'll take back everything you just said-"

Graham sniffled. He glared up at Luke.

"You think it's that easy!"

Luke paused. He didn't expect Graham to snap like that at him.  
>"You think it's easy for me to forgive all the girls who picked on me!"<br>"What about the girls we used to play with when we were younger?"  
>"They were still kids back then! But they changed now, they changed into self-absorbed sex-addicts and <em>I hate it<em>!"  
>"Graham..."<br>"...I hate it..."  
>Luke sat down in front of Graham and put his hands on Grahams shoulders once again. Graham looked back up at Luke with a pitiful look on his face, and Luke sighed.<br>"Not all girls are like that, Graham. You just happened to meet some of the bad o-"  
>Luke was cut off, and he couldn't speak at the moment.<p>

In those few seconds Luke was speaking, Graham had taken one hand and placed it upon Luke's cheek. His eyes didn't leave Luke's. Graham still had that tearful look on his face. Luke was frozen.

Graham slowly leaned in, closed his eyes, and touched his lips to Luke's, tears still running down his face. Luke had no idea what to do.

A few moments passed before Graham pulled away from Luke, his cheeks red.  
>"I..."<br>Luke was first to speak a full sentence after clearing his throat a few times.  
>"You-You do realize that I'm dating a girl right now, don't you? Annonette, she's my girlfriend."<br>Graham lowered his head a bit. He apologized.  
>"I didn't know you weren't straight."<p>

Graham decided that he didn't want to stick around to hear what Luke had to say. He got up and ran for home as quickly as he could, ignoring Luke's shouts. He wiped his eyes as much as he could so his grandmother wouldn't notice. He ran back to his room and buried his face into his pillow. He wasn't allowed to cry at home anyway. At least, not for something like this. Not for this silly drama. He eventually fell asleep right there.

The next morning, Graham received a package at his doorstep. It contained his bag and all of his belongings that weren't taken by his four attackers. There was also a small, handmade card inside of his bag.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

"_Dear Graham,_

_Congrats on coming out of the closet! We're happy with your decision, and we hope that you're doing better this morning. By the way, Luke's not mad about what happened yesterday, he was just surprised. He told me what happened, but I'm not telling anyone else, okay? Hope you're doing better, and hope to hang out with you again soon! Both of us!_

_Sincerely,  
>Luke Triton<em>

_Nettie Janette_"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Graham smiled for the first time in a few days.


	2. Chapter 2

_One year later..._

They walked down the dirt path through the park, hand-in-hand with their fingers laced. They both knew that doing this would irritate some people, considering both Graham and Blaine were male, but neither of them had a care in the world. As long as they were together, they were happy, and nothing could stop them from expressing their love to each other. The pleasant silence between them was broken by Graham when they passed by a young woman pushing a food cart through the park.

"Hey, Blaine? Can we get some ice cream, _pleeeease?_"  
>Graham's eyes were shining up at Blaine, who looked at him for a few seconds and laughed lightly.<br>"Haha, of course, Graham, it's on me! I'll race ya if you want!"  
>"You're ON!"<p>

The two raced to the ice cream cart, nearly running into the lady pushing it, but eventually skidded to a stop, both of them ending in a tie. The young woman laughed as they playfully bickered about who won, and finally asked for their orders. She gave Graham an Orange Creamsicle and Blaine a chocolate fudge-pop with a smile and watched them walk away with them, waving them goodbye with a cheerful expression on her face.

_Once she saw them lace their fingers together again, though, her smile promptly faded, and she pushed the cart in the other direction._

Graham and Blaine were sitting on a bench in the outskirts of the park, eating their ice cream with smiles on their faces. Blaine couldn't help but notice Graham eyeing his chocolate dessert and he let out a small snicker.  
>"You want a bite?" He held out the Popsicle to Graham.<br>Graham's face lit up as he stuck the tip of the ice cream into his mouth, his cheeks brightening with the sweet chocolate taste. Eventually, he surrendered Blaine's Fudgesicle and turned back to his own. He held out the orange Popsicle to Blaine.  
>"You wanna taste mine?"<br>"No thanks," Blaine smiled at him, "I'm not a huge fan of fruity ice creams."  
>Graham let out a giggle.<br>"I can lick the orange off and you could taste the vanilla..."  
>Blaine turned to Graham with a look that screamed, "<em>You TOTALLY wouldn't!<em>"

Graham smirked back as a response, closed his eyes, and very slowly sucked off the orange coating off his Popsicle until there was only a white mound left on the stick. Graham held it out to Blaine and stuck out his now-orange tongue.

"You dork!" Blaine laughed as he took a taste of the vanilla ice cream and then looked down into Graham's eyes with a sincere smile. "But that's just one of the reasons I adore you so much."  
>Graham blushed, his face filled with pure happiness, and whispered back, "Love you too, Blaine."<p>

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Graham was heading back home after walking Blaine back to his house, his cheeks still warm from their previous good-byes. Graham had a bit of a spring in his step as he walked cheerfully homeward; taking the scenic route back to his abode.  
>Suddenly, a sharp crack rang out through the air around Graham. He whipped his head around quickly and the world seemed to go by in slow motion - there was a bullet slicing through the air only a few inches from his head and he could feel the tiny vibrations of the bullet's spin against his cheek and ear. His eyes shot open and, in a matter of seconds, dropped down to his knees; holding onto the back of his neck and shaking violently. It was then that Graham heard an all-too-familiar voice.<p>

"_Pitiful._"

It was _that girl._ And in her left hand, she wielded a gun. It was still smoking. All Graham could do was stare up at this girl with tears of sheer terror welling up in his eyes.

"Stop crying, you damn faggot!"

Graham had no idea how to react to this at all. He was too concerned about the gun she was holding and at the fact that his life could end at any given second if he made even one wrong move around this girl. He hugged himself tightly and clenched his eyes shut; his face breaking and tears streaming down his cheeks. However, he did not utter even a sound.  
>Other male voices were popping up in the background.<p>

_"Oooooh! Cracker's a faaaaaaggot!"  
>"Gay little bitch!"<br>"Where's your little butt-buddy, huh, you fag!"_

Graham was breaking down; he had never heard any insults that hurt as much as these did. He was leaning forward as he struggled to get any words out of his throat.  
>"N-No more...!" Graham shook his head slowly and took a sharp breath, "Please...no m-more...!"<br>"_Look at me, dammit!_" The girl screamed, pointing the gun to Graham's head. Graham promptly jerked his head up, staring shakily at the girl's cherry red, sardonic smirk. She didn't do so much as bat a heavily-mascarad eyelash as she spoke.

"Go fuck yourself in Hell, Riddle."

Graham felt a sudden wave of energy surge through his body (probably a mix of courage and adrenaline) and forced a crooked smile, his expression looking horribly depressed and pained. In a voice thick with tears, he managed to speak one last sentence.

"I'd rather _die_ than take back my love for Blaine..."

She let out a dark laugh as her gun stared straight into Graham's shining brown eyes. There were two clicks that echoed across the evening air.  
>"So be it."<br>She fired the gun and sent a bullet straight through Graham's head, sending him spiraling backwards until he eventually landed on his side and didn't move anymore. One final tear fell from Graham's dimmed eyes, his last smile permanently frozen to his face. A small pool of blood was gathering around his head; splatters of scarlet stained the trees and the spring daisies.

The group of boys was hollering as the girl walked away with her gun and her smirk. And the night was completely silent.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Luke woke up early to head to school - this week was the graduation preparation week for his year, and he didn't want to be late for this event. However, Luke found that he was prepared a little too early, and decided to put on his headphones and take the long way to school since the weather was pleasantly cool that morning.  
>In the distance, Luke thought he saw someone lying on the ground. He blinked a few times and took out one earphone to try and focus on the person ahead. He walked a bit closer and began noticing the small spots of dried blood on the ground, which immediately gave him a feeling of anxiety in the pit of his stomach. He put away his headphones completely and broke into a run, following the bloodspots that were quickly increasing in size and numbers.<br>He followed the trail all the way to its source - the lifeless body lying sideways on the sidewalk. Luke's heart sank and his breath hitched in his throat.

"_G-Graham!_"

Luke dropped his belongings and ran around to see the face - and sure enough, it was Graham Riddle's pale face, his glazed over eyes staring out into nothingness. Luke sank to his knees and simply stared at the body in disbelief. After a few seconds, Luke gingerly touched Graham's cold cheek and almost immediately withdrew his hand. Luke could not breathe normally and small tears had begun to develop in the corners of his eyes. Luke shakily withdrew his cell phone and fumbled with it a bit to call Layton's number, praying to God that he'd pick up the phone at this time.  
>After a few rings, Layton's rather sleepy voice answered on the other line.<br>"Hello, Layton residence..."  
>"Professor...it's Luke...I-I just f-found a d-d-dead b-body..." Luke's voice was shaky and his breath was fast and audible.<br>"M-My boy...? Did I just hear you correctly? You found a dead body?" Layton had a small hint of panic in his voice.  
>"Y-Yeah...and I kn-know who's body it i-is...please, I need you to help m-me..."<br>"My boy, I need you to calm down...where exactly are you now?"  
>Luke swallowed hard before answering, "I'm on the backroute to s-school...please hurry...!"<br>"I'm on my way, Luke," The professor said before hanging up the phone. Luke did the same, and he anxiously waited.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

After a few minutes, Layton - as well as Klaus, his girlfriend Lanna, Remi, and Luke's girlfriend Nettie - arrived on the scene, only to see a shivering Luke next to a dead body, just as he had said beforehand. Luke saw all of them arrive, but he could only look at them pitifully and choke out a few words -

"It's Graham..."

Everyone gasped and ran over to see the front of the body, only to be horribly shocked when they saw Graham's lifeless face. Nettie screamed.  
>"Grahamy...!" Nettie squeaked out in a broken voice as she kneeled down next to Luke. The two looked at each other tearfully and hugged in an emotional embrace, whispering his name over and over again.<br>Remi knelt down near Graham's head and ran her fingers through his hair rather shakily, holding her tears back as she did so. She withdrew her hand and saw his blood on her fingers and felt her heart sink even lower. She whispered quietly that Graham would always be like a son to her and stood up weakly. Layton walked over to her and put a hand upon her shoulder in a means of comford. She put her hand to her mouth and lowered her head.  
>Klaus held Lanna to his chest and looked away from the body. Lanna could only shed quiet tears and return the embrace weakly. Her breath came in quick, sharp gasps as she cried into Klaus' jacket. Klaus could say nothing to comfort her.<p>

"Who could have done this...?" Layton said in a rather quiet tone of voice, "It looks like Graham was shot by someone, from the surroundings..." No one had an answer.  
>Several more moments went by with no voices until Luke broke the silence.<br>"We...need to tell Blaine..." he mumbled sadly as he separated from Nettie and wiped his eyes. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and slowly dialed Blaine's phone number, waiting almost two minutes before actually calling the number.  
>The phone rang several times and eventually, Blaine's tired voice was heard on the other line.<p>

"Whatcha want...?" Blaine yawned, "You, like, never call me, Luke..."  
>"There's an emergency, Blaine..." Luke was struggling to keep his voice steady.<br>"What happened...? Didja lose your graduation cap...?" Blaine asked, obviously still sleepy from being woken up at this hour.  
>"We're at the backpath to school from my house...and..." Luke had to pause to try and swallow the lump in his throat, "...we found Graham's body here..."<br>"What was Graham doing the-wait, his _BODY!_" Blaine's voice turned shrill all of a sudden and was heard by everybody around Luke. "What the Hell is that supposed to mean! _Luke!_"  
>The only sound that could be heard on the other end was a quiet sniff.<p>

Blaine threw down his phone, quickly got dressed and ran out the door towards the others' location, praying to God that Luke meant something - _anything_ - other than what he had said.


	4. Chapter 4

"_GRAAAAAHAM!_" Blaine's voice pierced through the air as he ran towards the small and tightly huddled group. Blaine's breath came in sharp bursts and his face showed a terrified expression; the dark orange hood of his sweatshirt was fluttering behind him, revealing his brown hair. Luke heard him coming and he and Nettie moved out of the way, Graham's body revealing itself to Blaine's sight. Everyone was silently mourning for Graham, whose body still lied there in a bloody mess. Nobody dared to speak a word as Blaine came closer to the broken family.  
>Blaine froze a few feet from Graham's body in shock - <em>"Luke was right"<em> played through his head over and over again as he slowly crept closer to Graham. He felt his legs becoming shaky and eventually dropped down to his knees only a few inches from Graham's body. He reached out and lifted Graham's head, laid it on his knees and simply stared at him with shaking green eyes. Graham's hazel ones were still ajar.

"G-Grahamy...? Wake up...it's me, your Blaine..." Blaine forced a sad smile as he stroked Graham's cheek with trembling fingers, "H-Hey, we can go out again like you wanted...we can eat ice cream together again...and you can take as much of mine as you want...and...and..." Blaine was having a hard time speaking at this point, and small tears had welled up in his eyes. (_He was grateful for his hoodie at this point - he wasn't a fan of showing emotion in front of others - and he pulled it back over his head._) "...and we'll have the most f-fun we've e-ever had, and we won't ca-care who hates us f-f-for it..."  
>Blaine swiped at his eyes quickly and leaned down towards Graham and touched his lips to Graham's - he was very cold. Blaine pulled away shortly after and gently closed Graham's eyes with two fingers.<br>Something inside of Blaine's heart seemed to shatter at that moment, that one touch; Blaine's entire frame shook violently in a spasm of sorts and, with Graham's head still resting on his knees, he threw his hands over his ears - or, where his ears were located from under his hood - and clenched his eyes shut tightly. He inhaled sharply before speaking.  
>"Goddammit, why couldn't I have just walked you home!" Blaine shouted quite loudly, "Why'd you have to go and ta-take ME home! Why-why did you do that...!" Blaine doubled over forward a little bit, his body becoming visibly weaker, and quickly held Graham's upper body to his chest. He hugged Graham's lifeless body close and whispered, "It's all my fault...I could have saved you..."<p>

Blaine stayed there with Graham long after everybody else had left.

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

A week later, a funeral was held for Graham in a nearby church. The Layton household all attended - the men wearing black suits and the women wearing black dresses and carrying white handkerchiefs - as well as other families who were close to Graham. Blaine's parents did not attend, however - they did not support Blaine's relationship with Graham, and were busy planning the arranged marriage for him they had desired for quite a while - and Blaine sat by himself on an empty bench. Graham's grandmother was sitting sadly in the front row where family members usually sat, but she was also alone on her bench.  
>Nearly 30 minutes later, everybody had said their words and prayers and grievances except for Nettie and Blaine; both of whom were walking up to the altar.<br>Nettie slowly approached the microphone and spoke in a very soft voice, Blaine standing somberly by her side. They both took a second to gather what strength they had left before speaking.  
>"Today, we'd like to sing a duet as a tribute to my brother...and Blaine's partner. Thank you."<br>A soft melody began to play shortly after she finished, and Blaine took a small step backwards and the whole room grew quiet as she sang only slightly off-key.

**"Oh yeah, I'll tell you something...  
>I think you'll understand...<br>When I say that something...  
>I wanna hold your hand...<br>I wanna hold your ha-a-and...  
>I wanna hold your hand..."<strong>

The song took nearly everyone off guard - this song had been changed to a sadder tune instead of the rather fast-paced original that everyone had heard before. After the first verse, Nettie stepped quickly back and let Blaine take over the microphone for the next stanza. He closed his eyes and sang deeply and emotionally.

**"Oh please, say to me...  
>You'll let me be your man...<br>And please, say to me...  
>You'll let me hold your hand...<br>Now let me hold your ha-a-and...  
>I want to hold your hand..."<strong>

Shortly after Blaine finished the verse, Nettie re-approached the microphone and held onto it with one hand, the other over her heard, and sung the harmony for Blaine's melody.

**"And when I touch you,  
>I feel happy inside...<br>It's such a feeling that my love...**

They both took a deep breath and continued the song with as much emotion packed into their voices as they could.

**"I can't hide!  
>I can't hide!<br>I can't hiiiiiiiide!"**

Their voices both softened a few notches as they continued, the background music fading out as they did so.

**"Yeah, you've got that something...  
>I think you'll understand...<br>When I feel that something...  
>I wanna hold your hand...<br>I wanna hold your ha-a-and...  
>I wanna hold your hand..."<strong>

The music in the background faded completely as Nettie stepped back from the mic once again, leaving Blaine alone at the microphone as he finished the last line of the song with incredible emotion and feeling.

_**"I...wanna hold...your haaaaaaand..."**_

Blaine held out the last night for what seemed, to him, like hours, before opening his eyes and forcing a sad smile.  
>"I love Graham Riddle more than anybody in the world...I only hope that I can see him again someday...thank you for letting me sing for him one last time..."<br>Blaine turned away for a second to swipe at his eyes before resuming talking, his voice thick with suppressed emotion.  
>"...And I hope I can return to his side again someday in the future."<p>

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Slowly but surely, the small building emptied, all except for Blaine, who insisted on staying up on the altar, standing there as if there were still a crowd watching him. He was still holding the microphone in his hands, unmoved from where he and Nettie sang their duet. Blaine soon snapped back to reality and realized that the room was empty, and turned towards Graham's opened coffin. He looked around at the empty room once more before looking back at the coffin. Tears welled up in his eyes as he walked up to Graham and leaned over the side to look more closely at him. Graham looked like he was only sleeping, like all Blaine had to do was caress his cheek and he'd wake right up with a cheery smile. He wished that were true with all of his heart and soul.

_Little did Blaine notice the muffled taps of high heels on the carpeted walkway of the church._  
>Blaine laid one hand on Graham's cheek for almost two minutes before he closed the coffin. He drew a deep and shaky breath, and then sighed sadly, unable to think of anything to say.<br>But he was not alone in the building anymore. There was someone else now as well, not even bothering to try and hide herself from view. She walked halfway down the aisle separating the left benches from the right and then stopped, eyes locked onto Blaine on top of the altar. Her right corner of her small mouth turned up into a smirk as she heard Blaine sing that last line to Graham once more.

**"I...wanna hooooooold-"**

_Click-Click._

Blaine's eyes shot open with a sharp gasp as he heard the eerily familiar noise echo from behind him. He whipped his body around as he dropped the microphone, creating a rather loud and high pitched feedback that reverberated across the small room, and stared right into the eyes of the gun-wielding girl. There were a few moments of absolute silence that passed slowly by, before it was broken by an emotionally-fried Blaine.

"…You're the one who shot Graham…aren't you?"  
>"Why should I tell you <em>anything<em>, you goddamn fag?" Her voice was dark and harsh, and she emphasized each syllable as she spoke.  
>"<em>Did you shoot my boyfriend?<em>" Blaine asked with a bit more assertion to back up his voice.  
>She smirked, but said nothing. That look was enough of an answer.<br>Blaine quickly straightened up and shot his hardest death glare down at the young woman, fire burning in his eyes.

"How the _HELL_ could you do something like that! _HOW!_" He shouted at her, his hands in tightly clenched fists by his sides. The girl was taken aback for a split second and she lowered her gun the slightest bit. Blaine took this opportunity to run to the front of the altar, pick up the microphone stand with both hands, and jump off of the altar towards her with it raised behind his head.

"_You're SERIOUSLY gonna pay for taking Grahamy from me!_" Blaine screamed at the top of his lungs. He proceeded to whack her atop the head with the metal stand and managed to knock her down and temporarily stun her. Blaine walked over to her, never removing his piercing glare from her, and kicked at her stomach until her grip on the gun subsided. He then bent down, picked up her gun with his right hand, and aimed it at her without hesitation. A few painfully slow minutes passed by with dead silence thickening the air around them. The girl coughed a few times into her hand, her coughs slowly changing to sinister laughter.

"You gonna shoot me, _fag?_" She smirked up at Blaine, "You don't got the nerve OR the balls to do that."  
>Blaine's glare was wavering and his hand holding the gun was beginning to tremble.<br>"_Sh-Shut up…!_" Blaine shouted in a powerful but shaky voice.  
>"Heh heh heh…then do it! <em>Shoot me!<em>"

Blaine's glare completely disappeared into a frightened stare as his breath sped up and became audible. The girl gave her next sentence extra emphasis, pronouncing every word slowly and clearly.

"_**You'll be no better than me if you do.**_"

Blaine gasped through gritted teeth, unable to keep the gun steadily pointed at her any longer. Tears welled up in his eyes for what seemed like the twentieth time today, and he slowly lowered the gun as well as his head, concealing his face from her view. He knew that he had lost his opportunity at this point, and he just stood there and shook. The girl let out another dark laugh as she stood back up. She proceeded to walk over to Blaine and forcefully take the gun from his hand. She then gave his chest a violent shove and sent him falling backwards, eventually falling into a sitting position, propped up by the base of the altar.

"Y'know, the reason I had to kill that guy was because he was dating _you._ His last words were to you…just makes me sick. Fuckin' _gays…_" She then pointed the gun at Blaine's shivering form.  
>Blaine was still propped up against the altar, avoiding her angry stare and trying to gather his wits to find an escape from this situation, which was to no appeal. He was curled up at this point, hugging one knee to his chest with his forehead resting against his kneecap. His tears were soaking into the black (<em>dressed for the occasion<em>) hoodie, and he didn't respond to her at all.  
>"They're dirtying up the world, and it's any MORAL human being's job to <em>dispose<em> of them. They're not even human anymore if they do that – it's not the way that God designed people to be. They're FAILURES in the process to create a better world."

Blaine let out a quiet and muffled sob.

_Her words hurt nearly as much as losing Graham did._

"Oh, shut _UP!_" Her shrill voice bounced around the room for a few seconds before she continued, "You should have expected this sort of treatment when you decided to swap spit with someone of the same gender!"  
>Blaine took a shaky breath and lifted his head up and glared at her with red eyes and tearstains on his cheeks. She glared right back. He swallowed hard, then said one sentence.<p>

"…You're fucking _insane._"

"_SHUT_ the _FUCK UP_ and _GO TO HELL_ where you _FUCKING BELONG!_"  
>"At least I'll be with Grahamy there, then."<br>Blaine smiled as the gun was fired. The bullet hit him square in the chest and he immediately went limp and fell to the side, leaving a rather large blood smear across the base of the altar. His eyes dimmed as his final tears rolled down the side of his face and soaked into the black hood. The girl let out a howling laugh as she stared at his body, shouting nonsense into the echo-filled room that even she didn't understand.

There was only one recognizable statement she screamed.

"_You can't escape from Maureen!_"

**o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o**

Blaine's funeral was held the very next day, and he was buried right next to Graham. They shared the same burial ceremony and the same services, and eventually, everybody was back to doing their daily routine, as if nothing had ever happened.

_Sometimes, though, if Nettie and Luke laced their fingers and listened very carefully on those windy, autumn days, they could hear Graham and Blaine laughing together again..._


End file.
